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AUBURN CELLULAR BIOLOGIST RECEIVES $300,000 NIH GRANT
AUBURN, Ala.__--What do babies and scientists have in common? Both may
benefit from a $300,000 National Institute for Health (NIH) grant that
has been awarded to an Auburn University researcher.
Marie Wooten, a cellular biologist working on research through the Alabama
Agricultural Experiment Station at Auburn University, received a grant
from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),
one of several agencies operating within the NIH. The grant offers Wooten
a chance to apply basic science to the study of fetal alcohol syndrome
(FAS), a disorder occurring in infants whose mothers consumed alcohol
during pregnancy.
"My lab primarily works on how cells perceive extracellular signals
to move information across the cell membrane and into the cell nucleus
to affect gene expression," explained Wooten, an assistant professor
in Auburn's Department of Zoology and Wildlife Science.
Most of her work concentrates on cell growth and how cells differentiate
and eventually specialize to perform specific functions, such as become
neurons. "In the lab, we are trying to get a basic understanding
of events, make new discoveries and work out problems associated with
this process," she added.
Through her research, Wooten has developed a laboratory model used to
scrutinize cellular activity. Scientists trying to understand the interaction
of alcohol with the developing fetal brain can use this model to find
out what's happening in specific cells to cause changes that may lead
to this syndrome.
According to Wooten, children suffering from FAS usually exhibit a decrease
in brain size and morphological changes, such as altered facial features.
Her work already has shown that cells exposed to alcohol take on properties
of mature cells faster than normally developing cells. This suggests
that FAS is a growth-related problem that may affect the number and/or
the type of neurons present in the brain.
The NIAAA grant will allow Wooten to examine the underlying cellular
and molecular events that contribute to FAS. "We are moving from
basic research to an applied area, and then back to a very basic question.
This study lends itself well to the overlap of the two areas,"
she said.
Wooten's cellular model also offers another advantage for scientists
studying health issues. Animal experimentation was once the only effective
way to study these types of health problems. This model provides an
alternative to animal experimentation that will not totally eliminate
the need for animals in such research, but can provide other options.
And new developments that come from Wooten's work may also further enhance
basic science research methods.
In addition to this substantial grant from NIAAA, Wooten also has received
grants from the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Defense Department
for this and other studies. She noted that the holistic approach of
this research to several areas of neurobiology is one reason her program
has been awarded numerous grants. But she also credited her laboratory
personnel with this success. "They are the core of the program,
the ones who make the goals and dreams of our research efforts come
to life," she said.
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By:
Katie Smith
October 16, 1991
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